Date of Award

2009

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Psychology

Specialization

Clinical Psychology

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Mark Wood

Abstract

A growing body of research indicates that mindfulness-based therapies may be useful for treating substance abuse. However, the incorporation of mindfulness into substance abuse treatment is limited by a lack of basic research in this area. For example, instruments designed to measure mindfulness vary widely in content and validity and the fundamental relationships among mindfulness, alcohol use, and drug use are not well-understood. Accordingly, this study sought to validate an emerging measure of mindfulness, the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and examine its relationship with substance use among a sample of 316 current or former college students. The purported factor structure of the FFMQ was examined using a series of confirmatory factor analyses, and structural equation modeling was used to measure the relationship between mindfulness and substance use. Consistent with past research, results supported the five-factor structure of the FFMQ. However, a hierarchical factor analysis did not support the existence of a single overarching mindfulness factor. Two of the FFMQ factors were negatively related to alcohol use (p < .05), and three factors held a marginally significant negative relationship with alcohol-related consequences (p < .10). Attempts to examine the relationship between mindfulness and other drug use were abandoned because of low base rates. These results support the five factor structure of the FFMQ, but additional psychometric testing is needed to determine whether all factors of the FFMQ represent mindfulness as a single overarching construct. The results reported here can be used inform the burgeoning development of mindfulness-based addiction treatments.

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